Career Curves

Carol Regalbuto has done what many women are being encouraged to do – pursue a career in engineering. She started down this path in high school and today has a successful career working on the latest battery technology. The journey though hasn't been easy. She's faced internal challenges like self-doubt and external challenges as the only woman on teams of men. 

On this episode, Carol candidly shares what she's had to do to thrive both personally and professionally. She also shares how she became passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion, and how she has incorporated this passion into her work.

Meet the Guest
Carol Regalbuto, Senior Battery Engineer, is a Mexican American engineer originally from the suburbs of Chicago but has called the Bay Area home since 2011. She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s in mechanical engineering and spent 3 years working at Tesla before moving to a battery materials startup called Sila Nanotechnologies.

Since college, Carol has been a strong advocate for underrepresented groups in STEM and has taken that passion with her to her workplaces today, where she is committed to building gender and racial equity by diversifying corporate workforces. Carol now resides in Oakland and when not in the office or the lab, you can find her dancing bachata, looking for the next pair of sneakers to cop, listening to music and podcasts, or taking in a view.

What if you’re on one path – it’s a path you always thought you should be on – when an experience excites you about something totally different. Do you make the leap? Our guest, Jason Elliott, did just that.

Since graduating college in 2008, Jason has worked in government and politics, currently serving as Senior Counselor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Housing & Homelessness. This isn’t what he thought he’d be doing when he was getting started in his career. He grew up thinking he'd be a journalist and set off to study this in college.

During our conversation, Jason explains why he left journalism for government, the difference between politics and government, and how he discovered which one plays best to his strengths. His candor and advice are relevant whether you're interested in government or an entirely different field.

Meet the Guest
Jason Elliott currently serves as Senior Counselor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Housing & Homelessness. 

Prior to serving in the Administration, Jason served as a Senior Advisor to Governor-elect Newsom’s transition and Newsom’s campaign for Governor of California.

Prior to that, he served as Chief of Staff to the Mayor of San Francisco. Jason was first named to the position by Mayor Edwin M. Lee. Upon Mayor Lee’s untimely passing in December 2017, Jason remained as Chief of Staff to three subsequent mayors in quick succession, providing stability to a grieving City in turmoil. 

Mayor London N. Breed, elected in June 2018, retained Jason as Chief of Staff to lead her transition into her new Administration. Jason then departed City Hall in September 2018 when he was named a senior advisor to Gavin Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign. 

Prior to serving as the San Francisco Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Jason was Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Mayor Lee, beginning in 2011 when Mayor Lee first took office. Jason’s city service also included two years in Gavin Newsom’s administration as Mayor’s Policy Advisor from 2008 to 2010. 

During his tenure in City Hall, Jason has provided leadership on a wide variety of key policy initiatives, including efforts to raise the City’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, building 30,000 new homes including 50% affordable, launching the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, opening Navigation Centers, seismically retrofitting tens of thousands of buildings, and creating neighborhood Fix-It teams. 

Jason is a graduate of Columbia University and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He grew up in Palo Alto, CA and lives with his wife, Nicole and their baby daughter, Lucy.

Many people assume that to work in a particular field, you have to have a degree in that field. Well, sometimes this is true but not always.   

On this episode, we’re joined by Burak Cakmak who became Dean of Fashion at Parsons School of Design even though he didn't study fashion or have experience as a fashion designer. What he did have was a rich background in other aspects of the fashion business, especially supply chain and sustainability. Burak shares the deliberate actions he took to develop his expertise, gain exposure to all aspects of the industry, and build the credibility needed to rise to where he is today.

It's an unforgettable story loaded with wisdom that can be applied in any industry.

Meet the Guest
Burak Cakmak, Dean of Fashion at Parson School of Design, has extensive experience in forging strong partnerships as a business strategist and sustainability expert for some of the largest, most prestigious retail companies and luxury brands in the world.

He is focused on guiding the fashion programs at Parsons School of Design into a new era, where an emphasis on socially conscious and transformational design formulates the educational approach and training of the next generation of creators.

Prior to joining Parsons, Cakmak worked at Swarovski Group as the company’s first Vice President of Corporate Responsibility. Before that, he acted as General Manager of MADE-BY Benelux in the Netherlands. As the first Director of Corporate Sustainability for Kering, Cakmak spearheaded innovation-driven sustainability strategies. His career began at Gap Inc., where he served as the Senior Manager of Social Responsibility for eight years.

Links
Check out these links to learn more about Burak and Parsons School of Design:

• The BFA Fashion Design program at Parsons
• Burak on LinkedIn
• Burak on Instagram

To access the the publications Burak wrote for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, follow these links:

• Biotrade designer’s toolkit 2 : yellow anaconda (Eunectes Notaeus) : sustainable materials for the fashion industry : biodiversity, ecosystems, community impact review
• Biotrade designer’s toolkit 3 : Morelet’s crododile, Crocodylus moreletti : sustainable materials for the fashion industry : biodiversity, ecosystems, community impact review

Is it possible to make your voice heard around important issues of our day, like healthcare, water resource management and climate resiliency? Our guest, Susan Leal, has done just that in both the public and private sectors. 

She's worked as a lawyer for the US House Energy and Commerce Committee, been an elected official, and been a founding leader in a successful health care startup. She then became an expert in water management and now consults on water and waste water issues related to climate change, resiliency and sustainability. Her career has been curvy!  

In our conversation, Susan connects the dots between the many curvy moves she’s made. She also shares how she moved into areas that were completely new to her. Her story is interesting, inspiring and a great example of the positive impact one person can make on the world. 

Meet the Guest
Susan Leal, Principal & Founder, Urban Water Works, is a water utility expert and author specializing in identifying realistic and creative solutions to the water-related challenges.

Currently, she is Principal and founder of Urban Water Works a consultancy firm that advises public and private sector clients on water and waste water issues related to climate change, resiliency and sustainability. She also is an Associate with Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. In that appointment, she is concluding an innovative water conservation project in the Middle East. She recently concluded three years as the Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President for Water, the Americas at AECOM.

Previously, she was a two-year Senior Fellow at Harvard University. As part of her fellowship, she co-authored Running Out of Water, a proactive book focused on solutions to our looming water crisis. She is currently under contract with Harvard University Press for another water related book. The focus of the upcoming book will on the food, water and climate change nexus: how to feed 9.5 billion people by 2050. She is a member of the advisory board of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley, where she also received her BA and JD.

As former General Manager of San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission, Susan led the charge for a dramatic upgrade of the Bay Area’s water system and outdated wastewater system. She previously served two terms as the elected Treasurer of the City and County of San Francisco and as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

As a recognized thought leader on water issues, Leal speaks regularly at water, sustainability, investment and infrastructure conferences. She is interviewed and mentioned in print and online articles including Bloomberg News, the New York Times, Boston Globe, Foreign Affairs, San Francisco Chronicle, Harvard Gazette and Wall Street Journal.

Links
Follow this link to find Susan’s book on Amazon. You can probably find it at Barnes & Noble or your local library, too.

• Running Out of Water: The Looming Crisis and Solutions to Conserve Our Most Precious Resource

What if a voice inside you is telling you to take a different path than the one you're on? Beth Davies has heard this voice many times and she always took action.

On this episode, Beth is taking her turn as the guest and sharing her career journey. She openly shares why she left law for human resources and how she eventually became the host of this podcast. She tells her story hoping to inspire you. As you'll hear, inspiring others is how she defines success.

Meet the Guest
Beth Davies is typically the host of Career Curves but this time, she's the guest.

For over 25 years, Beth Davies has delivered cutting-edge talent management and learning solutions as an employee of Tesla, Microsoft, Apple, and Gap, and as a consultant for clients like LendUp, Livongo, Visa, Oracle, Breakthrough Group, Coaching Right Now, and Tommy Hilfiger. She has acquired expertise in culture-focused onboarding, leadership development, sales and product training, manufacturing training, compliance programs, media-enabled learning, and new learning technologies.

Currently, Beth hosts the Career Curves podcast and teaches at IE University in Madrid. Recognized as an industry expert, she’s also been a featured speaker at conferences in the US, Singapore, Austria, Mexico, Colombia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Beth earned a bachelor’s degree at Indiana University and a law degree from Stanford University. In 2016, IU named her a Luminary as a distinguished Alumna, an honor bestowed on just 12 people before her.

Beth lives in California with her husband, Kevin. On weekends, she often can be found doing jigsaw puzzles while he watches something with balls and athletes on television.

It’s the holidays, a time when many of us think of giving, both to our loved ones and to those in need, making this the perfect time to share our interview with Daniel Lurie, who has spent his career in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector focused specifically on supporting low-income individuals and breaking the cycle of poverty. 

In 2005, Daniel along with three other co-founders created Tipping Point, the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading poverty-fighting organization. Since its inception, Tipping Point has invested almost a quarter of a billion dollars in early childhood, education, employment, and housing programs, reaching over 600,000 people in need. 

In our conversation, Daniel shares the story of his career and offers advice for anyone interested in working in nonprofits.

Meet the Guest
Daniel Lurie founded Tipping Point Community, a nonprofit that aims to break the cycle of poverty in the Bay Area, in 2005 at the age of 28. Since then, Lurie has led the organization as CEO, helping to raise more than $220 million to support the most effective front-line interventions in education, employment, housing and early childhood development. Tipping Point’s board covers all of its fundraising and operating costs, so 100% of every dollar donated goes where it’s needed most.

Based in San Francisco, a city that has become a symbol for the country’s economic disparity, Lurie has positioned Tipping Point as the leading philanthropic organization tackling poverty in the region, including its bold commitment announced in 2017 to reduce chronic homelessness in San Francisco by 50% in the next five years. He has convened the best of the business world to join in the fight and in 2014 partnered with Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, to raise more than $10 million in 60 days from top companies in the region towards Tipping Point’s poverty alleviation efforts.

And, after the historic fires broke out Northern California, Lurie rallied the region’s corporate community to step up in response. More than 60 corporate partners stood by Tipping Point’s side to host two benefit concerts, raising more than $20 million for Tipping Point’s Emergency Relief Fund, established to support the low-income communities hit hardest by the fires in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties. To date the fund has raised more than $32 million, making it the largest philanthropic response to the fires.

In addition to his role at Tipping Point, Lurie served as Chair of the Super Bowl 50 Bid Committee, helping to bring the game to the Bay Area during its historic 50th anniversary year. After the successful bid, Lurie became Chairman of the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee, using the platform to put a spotlight on game-changing nonprofits in the region and helping to raise more than $13 million for community efforts, the largest philanthropic contribution in Super Bowl history. The Super Bowl and its surrounding events attracted over 1 million people to the region and had a net positive economic impact on the Bay Area of more than $240 million.

Prior to founding Tipping Point, Lurie worked for the Bill Bradley Presidential Campaign and the Robin Hood Foundation in New York City. He earned a BA in Political Science from Duke University and received his Master’s in Public Policy from the Goldman School at UC Berkeley. Daniel serves on the Board of Directors for the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, and the Levi Strauss Foundation.

Links
If you’re interested in getting involved or donating to Tipping Point, visit:

• TippingPoint.org.
• Chronic Homelessness Initiative
• Initiative to support transition-aged foster youth: www.tippingpoint.org/betterfutures 

How do you take opportunities and experiences early in your life and use them to shape your career so you can make an impact? And how important are the relationships you form along the way? 

On this episode, Wade Crowfoot, California's Secretary for Natural Resources, takes us through his curvy journey from early roles as an intern to where he is today, leading 19,000 people responsible for natural resources across California. His fascinating story is full of insights and lessons that extend far beyond government and politics. Spoiler alert: strong relationships make a big difference. 

Meet the Guest
Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary for Natural Resource, was appointed California Secretary for Natural Resources by Governor Gavin Newsom in January 2019. As Secretary, he oversees an agency of 19,000 employees charged with protecting and managing California’s diverse resources. This includes stewarding the state’s forests and natural lands, rivers and waterways, coast and ocean, fish and wildlife, and energy development. As a member of the Governor’s cabinet, he advises the Governor on natural resources and environmental issues.

Wade has over two decades of public policy and environmental leadership, with expertise in water, fisheries, climate and sustainability issues. He most recently served as chief executive officer of the Water Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropy that builds shared water solutions for communities, economy, and the environment across the American West. In that role, he developed innovative partnerships among a broad range of partners including agricultural leaders and environmental conservation groups.

Prior to joining the foundation, Wade served in Governor Jerry Brown’s Administration as deputy cabinet secretary and senior advisor to the Governor. In that role he led the administration’s drought response efforts and spearheaded several of the Governor’s priority initiatives to build California’s resilience to climate change. He previously served as West Coast regional director for the Environmental Defense Fund and a senior environmental advisor to then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, where he helped to lead many of Mayor Newsom’s nationally-recognized environmental initiatives.

Wade received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996 and earned a master’s degree in public policy from the London School of Economics in 2004, where he graduated with honors.

A native of Michigan, Wade grew up spending his summers outdoors. Now, he spends his down time camping and hiking with his wife, Lisa, and their young daughter.

Suppose you step away from work for awhile for personal reasons. Does this have to set you back? The answer is NO! It actually can propel you forward.  

On this episode, Hydra Mendoza shares how she used time away from work to develop skills, cultivate a new passion, and find her voice. All of these, especially her ability to speak truth to power, led to big opportunities she never dreamed of for herself.

Meet the Guest
Hydra Mendoza has served Mayors Gavin Newsom and Edwin Lee in San Francisco, and Mayor Bill de Blasio in New York City as their Senior Education Advisor, Deputy Chief of Staff for Education and Equity, and Deputy Chancellor for the Division of Community Empowerment, Partnerships and Communications, respectively.

Hydra was the first and only Filipina ever elected to office in San Francisco. In 2006, 2010, and 2014, Hydra successfully won a citywide bid and re-elections for a seat on the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education where she was elected by her peers, twice, as the President and Vice President.

Hydra has been honored by many local, state, and national organizations including Pin@y Educational Partnerships, College Track, Mission Economic Development Agency, San Francisco State University, California Association for Bilingual Education, Filipina Woman’s Network – 100 Most Influential Filipinas, and Donor Network West.

Hydra is the current Chief of Strategic Relationships for the Chairman and co-CEO of Salesforce.

Hydra has two adult children and lives with her husband in the Bayview community in San Francisco.

What does work-life balance mean to you? Could you achieve it if your career was threatened by something completely beyond your control? Our interview with Dr. Markus Watson explores how he has found balance throughout his life, even during especially challenging times like going to dental school while working full-time, and when receiving a life-changing diagnosis.

Markus candidly shares how he uncovered his interest in dentistry, what he discovered about himself through various jobs, and how he took on a health challenge that threatened everything he was and everything he built. His interview is loaded with wisdom and advice that’s helpful to anyone with ups and downs in their careers — so basically all of us!

Meet the Guest
Dr. Markus Watson, DDS, is a 1995 graduate of New York University’s School of Dentistry in Manhattan. He served a residency in general practice at the Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY.  In 1997, he began his practice in general dentistry on Manhattan’s upper east side. He worked part time in Brooklyn, NY for a nonprofit at the Brooklyn Plaza Family Health Center. In 2003, Dr. Watson relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and started as an associate with Union Street Dental Care. In 2004, he founded South Beach Dental, a group practice in San Francisco’s mission bay area.

He has a great passion for giving to organizations which drive changes in our need to create a better, healthier and more livable environment. In 2014, Dr. Watson created an eco-friendly toothpaste called GoGreen, with a percentage of profits going to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.   

Links
To learn more about Markus’ dental practice or to try his toothpaste, check out these links:

• South Beach Dental
• Dr. Watson’s GoGreen Toothpaste

Some people have a passion from an early age that they want to turn into a career. In this episode, we hear from someone who successfully did this. 

Jon Moscone discovered as a teenager that the theater was a place where he belonged and chose to pursue this as his career. He consciously made decisions to "just get in there" and prove what he could do, decisions that ultimately allowed him to be a theater director and producer, as well as an engaged civic leader. In our conversation, Jon shares the influences that shaped his life and how he made bold moves to build his storied career.

Meet the Guest
Jonathan Moscone currently serves as Chief Producer of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. He currently chairs the Advisory Committee of San Francisco’s Grants for the Arts and serves on the boards of Homeless Prenatal Program and Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard Project, and previously of Theater Communications Group.

Prior to YBCA, Jonathan served for 15 years as Artistic Director of the California Shakespeare Theater and is the first recipient of the Zelda Fichandler Award, given by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation for “transforming the American theater through his unique and creative work.”  Born and raised in San Francisco, Moscone received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama and BA from Williams College.

Links
Here's the book Jon mentioned that had a powerful influence on him:

• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo and Michael Eric Dyson

To find out more about Jon or the organizations and projects he's involved with, check out these links:

• YBCA
• Medium article: Civic Engagement at YBCA
• HowlRound Essays featuring Jon
• Preface written by Jon for Nina Simon's book, The Art of Relevance
• Wikipedia entry featuring Jon